Gloucester, Woodside Girls Advance In Softball Tourney

HAMPTON — One bloop single by sophomore Kasey Joyce equaled one huge sigh of relief for Gloucester coach Red Lindsay in Friday's Peninsula District softball quarterfinals.

Joyce's hit to shallow right field in the fifth inning, which brought Leslie Smith home from second with the first run in Gloucester's 2-0 victory against Phoebus, confirmed that Lindsay made the right decision last month when he elected to bring Joyce up from Gloucester's JV team.

Gloucester's win, also fueled by the one-hit pitching of senior Malina Hester, came on the heels of Woodside's 6-2 triumph against Denbigh in the first game at Francis Asbury Park.

"(Joyce) swings the bat OK," Lindsay said. "She swings the bat better against the type of pitching we saw today."

Gloucester (13-6), the tournament's fourth seed, will move on to face top-seeded Bethel on Monday at 4 p.m., and third-seeded Woodside will take on second- seeded Kecoughtan at 6:15 p.m.

Phoebus sophomore Jackie Ward (9-8) turned in her strongest overall performance of the season, giving up only singles to Joyce and Smith and reaching base on a double.

But Hester (12-6) one-upped Ward, putting together a one-hit gem to shut down the Phantoms (9-10). Hester got out of several jams, leaving Phantom runners at third in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, and stranding runners at first and second in the seventh.

Joyce's single came immediately after Smith recorded Gloucester's first hit of the game on another bloop single to shallow right with two outs. Smith advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Ward.

"The pressure was on," Joyce said. "It was nerve-wracking, but it felt good to do it."

Woodside's victory lacked the drama of Gloucester's, but it was also powered by an impressive pitching effort.

The Wolverines (15-4) batted around in the third inning, scoring four runs to build a 5-0 advantage on the Patriots (7-13). Danielle Tompkins had a sacrifice fly and Laura Drebitko connected on an RBI single. Two runs scored when Jenny Harrison reached base on an error during the third. Harrison was credited with an RBI for one of the runs.

"The last five or six games, we've started to put the bat on the ball," Woodside coach Mike Tallon said. "We've got a few hitters who can really put a crack on it."